VMware Implementation with IBM System Storage DS5000

4.11 - 1251 ratings - Source

In this IBMAr RedbooksAr publication, we compiled best practices for planning, designing, implementing, and maintaining IBM Midrange Storage Solutions. In this publication, we use IBM System StorageAr DS5000 storage subsystem for the implementation procedures, and the same procedures can be used for implementations with DCS3700 or DS3500 storage subsystems. We also compiled configurations for a VMware ESX and VMware ESXi Server host environment. Setting up an IBM Midrange Storage Subsystem is a challenging task. Our principal objective in this book is to provide you with a sufficient overview to effectively enable storage area network (SAN) storage and VMware. There is no single configuration that is satisfactory for every application or situation. However, the effectiveness of the VMware implementation is enabled by careful planning and consideration. Although the compilation of this publication is derived from an actual setup and verification, we did not stress test or test for all possible use cases that are used in a limited configuration assessment. Because of the highly customizable nature of a VMware ESXi host environment, you must consider your specific environment and equipment to achieve optimal performance from an IBM Midrange Storage Subsystem. When you are weighing the recommendations in this publication, you must start with the first principles of input/output (I/O) performance tuning. Each environment is unique and the correct settings that are used depend on the specific goals, configurations, and demands for the specific environment. This publication is intended for technical professionals who want to deploy VMware ESXi and VMware ESX Servers with IBM Midrange Storage Subsystems.This is really just a special case of the general principle that the system must not
trust user accessible data. ... VMware vSphere ESXi Server implements a
streamlined path to provide high-speed and isolated I/O for ... turns the I/O
requests into accesses to I/O ports to communicate to the virtual devices using
privileged IA-32 IN and OUT instructions. ... applications are very I/O intensive,
using applications such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle MySQL, and IBM DB2Ar
among others.